Glades Correctional Institution

Three prisoners escaped from Glades Correctional Institution in Belle Glade Sunday evening, but Palm Beach County sheriff`s deputies quickly captured them. The three men cut through the fence about 6:30 p.m., a prison officer said. Two of them were recaptured an hour later and the third two hours later. No further details were available.

Guards have confiscated more than 100 mobile phones at the privately run prison at South Bay since mid-2007, setting off alarm bells in the county court system and the state Department of Corrections. "Cell phones in the hands of inmates, that's a major breach of security," said Kevin Dean, the state Correction Department's canine supervisor. With a cell phone, an inmate can plot an escape, harass a witness, set up drug deals. Inmates charged with cell phone possession, a felony, are arriving in a steady stream at the West County Courthouse in this sugar country town, one or two cases every day that Judge Nelson Bailey's court is in session.

BELLE GLADE -- A Broward County man serving three years in the Glades Correctional Institution for forgery escaped Friday while mowing the lawn near the prison`s pistol range. Larry Allen Kemp, 23, of Hollywood, was last seen on work release at 2:15 p.m., authorities said. An all-points bulletin was issued for Kemp. The Sheriff`s Office said Kemp is not believed to be armed or dangerous.

Guards have confiscated more than 100 mobile phones at the privately run prison at South Bay since mid-2007, setting off alarm bells in the county court system and the state Department of Corrections. "Cell phones in the hands of inmates, that's a major breach of security," said Kevin Dean, the state Correction Department's canine supervisor. With a cell phone, an inmate can plot an escape, harass a witness or set up drug deals. Inmates charged with cell phone possession, a felony, are arriving in a steady stream at the West County Courthouse in this sugar country town, one or two cases every day that Judge Nelson Bailey's court is in session.

More than a month after six convicted killers escaped from Glades Correctional Institution, a Palm Beach County grand jury began hearing testimony on Thursday about the escape. The grand jury review of the state prison, which houses about 800 violent prisoners, began with testimony from Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers. The review is expected to take several months. Six convicted murderers tunneled to freedom on Jan. 2. One _ Juan Jesus Fleitas _ remains free.

The former Glades Correctional Institution superintendent faulted for failing to prevent inmates from raping and beating other prisoners was suspended from an assistant superintendent`s job at Florida State Prison in 1971 over charges that guards brutalized inmates to quell a riot, records indicate. The 30-day suspension of Robert Vinson Turner from Florida State Prison in 1971 was later scaled back to a written reprimand after Turner quit in disgust and leveled a blistering attack at Florida prisons chief Louie L. Wainwright.

In a lawsuit alleging negligent driving, a Palm Beach County couple claimed they were injured by two men, both of whom were charged with first-degree murder after a June 1987 shooting and car chase in West Palm Beach. Daniel and Christie Chupp filed suit on Tuesday against William Fell Van Poyck and Jay Francis Valdes, who were arrested and charged with murder after a failed attempt to break a Glades Correctional Institution prisoner out of custody on June 24, 1987.

Convicted killer Florencio Alvarez is scheduled to be tried in March on charges that he escaped from Glades Correctional Institution. Alvarez, 39, was among five inmates who fled from the Belle Glade prison in January. Trial dates have not yet been set for the two other recaptured inmates, Jesus Martinez, 47, and Hector Rivas, 32. One inmate, Juan Jesus Fleitas, remains at large, and another escapee was killed during a police shootout. Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp appointed lawyer John Garcia to represent Alvarez, who is already serving a life prison sentence.

BELLE GLADE -- A Broward County man serving three years in the Glades Correctional Institution for forgery escaped Friday while mowing the lawn near the prison`s pistol range. Larry Allen Kemp, 23, of Hollywood, was last seen on work release at 2:15 p.m., authorities said. A guard returned at 3 p.m. to check on Kemp and found only the lawn mower. An all-points bulletin was issued for Kemp. The Sheriff`s Office said Kemp is not believed to be armed or dangerous.

The former Glades Correctional Institution superintendent faulted for failing to prevent inmates from raping and beating other prisoners was suspended from an assistant superintendent`s job at Florida State Prison in 1971 over charges that guards brutalized inmates to quell a riot, records indicate. The 30-day suspension of Robert Vinson Turner from Florida State Prison in 1971 was later scaled back to a written reprimand after Turner quit in disgust and leveled a blistering attack at Florida prisons chief Louie L. Wainwright.

Tia Roundtree was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for fatally beating her fiance's son, Kelvin Jackson, 3, because he had an accident in his pants. Roundtree, 29, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder. The toddler died of a ruptured heart and also suffered a fractured skull and internal hemorrhaging of his pancreas, neck and adrenal glands. At the time of the February 2007 incident, Roundtree and Kelvin's father, Telvin Jackson Sr., lived in a South Bay apartment with Kelvin and his brother, Telvin Jr., 7, who has cerebral palsy.

Belle Glade Teens hurt in shooting identified The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has released the names of three teenagers who were shot and injured Saturday night in Belle Glade. Robert Hardnett, 17, was shot multiple times in the chest and arms about 8:45 p.m. Police found him and the other victims on the ground in the area of Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest Avenue F. Hardnett is at Delray Medical Center in critical condition. Carl Vereen, 15, and Arthur Humphrey, 13, also were shot.

The driver of a van involved in the crash that killed an assistant principal was arrested Tuesday, a day after authorities said he ran from the scene of the accident. Eudoxio Pedro JosM-i, 32, of West Palm Beach, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with a death and not having a valid driver's license, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. JosM-i ran a red light on State Road 80 on Monday afternoon and hit the driver's side of a Mercury driven by Abigail Ferguson, who was heading south on U.S. Highway 98 about 10 miles west of Royal Palm Beach, according to police reports.

Hector Rivas crazy? Crazy as a fox, maybe. But crazy as in not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity crazy? Not a chance. If Hector Rivas is insane, I'm Barbara Bush. Unfortunately, a Palm Beach County Circuit Court jury this week bought the act _ hook, line and sinker. He snookered them with a performance worthy of an Oscar. Rivas shaved his head into tufts for that ready-for-the-asylum look. He plugged his ears when the judge spoke. He pretended to snore loudly during testimony. He even twice smeared himself with feces as part of his well-rehearsed plot.

If long-suffering Floridians are well and truly sick of Hector Manuel Rivas, who can blame them? If they are well and truly sick of the legal profession, the courts, the judiciary and the criminal justice system, Hector Manuel Rivas is a big reason why. Floridians are as compassionate as anybody. But Rivas is a convicted murderer. He has had his day in court, and then some. Having been found guilty of killing Key West charter boat Capt. Hans Baumgarten, Rivas was sentenced to a measly 25 years in prison.

One town is a small, comfortable stretch of Atlantic coastline with stately mansions and reclusive retirees. The other is a farm town on the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee, with oppressive slums and struggling farm workers. Ocean Ridge and Belle Glade may be worlds apart, but they have something in common: For the second time in seven years, an Ocean Ridge town manager is leaving his seaside post for the cane fields of Belle Glade. Lester Baird did it back in 1989. Now Ocean Ridge's latest town manager, Bill Mathis, is making the trip west at the end of the month.

An inmate who was captured immediately after a Jan. 2 escape from Glades Correctional Institution has been sentenced to three additional years in prison. Felix Carbonell, 34, was serving a minimum mandatory 25 years to life for killing a man during a home invasion when he and five other inmates escaped from the 1,200-inmate state prison in Belle Glade. On Thursday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court in Belle Glade, Carbonell pleaded guilty to a charge of escape. His three-year sentence was ordered to run consecutively with his current sentence.

The groundbreaking for the new Glades Central High School has been delayed from February until May because of design changes required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Superintendent Monica Uhlhorn said on Wednesday. The delay sparked anger among some parents, who said they found the district unresponsive to their questions about the school. Concerns also were raised about safety of the old high school in Belle Glade. The opening of the school has been delayed from August 1995 to January 1996.

The reason given for the promotion of prison superintendent Gerald Abdul-Wasi to a new and higher-paying job couldn't be more ludicrous: As the man who was in charge of the staggeringly lax conditions under which five felons escaped from the Glades Correctional Institution in 1995, Abdul-Wasi "learned a whole lot." He was able to add the knowledge to whatever he learned in November 1990. That's when three inmates escaped from the maximum security Polk Correctional Institution in Central Florida, where he was also the superintendent.

Florida's prisons are staffed at critically low levels nearly one-third of the time, according to two reports delivered to the House Corrections Committee on Tuesday. Corrections officers also face low pay, low morale and forced overtime work, the reports said. And many of them fear for their safety because of violent inmates, unreliable security equipment and flaws in prison designs. Meanwhile, the prison population - now at 64,000 inmates - continues to grow, and experienced corrections officers leave for higher-paying jobs at local jails.